THE TRUE COST OF THE WAKEFIELD PARK CLOSURE
In the latest issue of AUTO ACTION, writer Andrew Clark exposes the true community costs of Wakefield Park Raceway shutting its gates following a disastrous NSW Land and Environmental Court ruling.
Clark highlights the broad spectrum of its impact to the wider community, pointing out the extensive value that motorsport venues such as Wakefield Park have on their relative regions.
Its owners and operators, the Benalla Auto Club, are currently working towards seeking government reform on the issue, in order to get its gates re-opened to the public, preventing the loss of yet another motorsport venue…
THE TRUE COST OF THE WAKEFIELD PARK CLOSURE
With the Australian motorsport fraternity still reeling from the closure of Wakefield Park Raceway last week, the true cost of the loss is only just coming to light as the Benalla Auto Club (BAC) starts rearguard action to try and revive the circuit.
Businesses as diverse as the local hotels and motels to dedicated suppliers of motorsport and driver training services are facing financial losses and, in some cases, the closure of businesses.
Earlier this year, BAC tried to get clarification around certain issues with the local council and other government authorities before undertaking some upgrades. The request opened a can of worms with a handful of distant residents, resulting in a revised operating licence that allowed four track days per month, regardless of the activity.
BAC says with that little track time, there was no longer enough revenue to support the venue and locked the front gate on 1 September.
One of the most severely impacted businesses is John Boston’s Trackschool, which is mainly centred on driver training and hotlaps at Wakefield. He says he is now facing the closure of the business he has spent more than a decade developing.
“It’s huge for us,” he says. “We started our business in 2011, and now we’re Wakefield Park’s largest client. We run up to 60 days a year there, so the closing of Wakefield Park affects 80 to 90% of my business.
“Unfortunately, we don’t have another option at the moment. We run days down at Wodonga, but that’s not the same. We employ up to 12 people on a daily basis, and they don’t get that work anymore. When we have our events at Wakefield Park, it’s massive, so the local area misses out too.
“It’s a huge shock and very disappointing.”
He says operating out of the driver training facility in Wodonga is not enough to sustain his business, and he is contractually blocked from using Sydney Motorsport Park, leaving Trackschool as a potential casualty.
“I don’t think we can run anything like we were doing in the short term. We’ve got around 14 hire cars in our fleet, they’ve all just been parked, and we can’t really do a great deal with them.”
Boston works full-time in his business and, along with others adversely affected, he doesn’t know what the future holds, although he remains hopeful BAC finds a solution.
“Trackschool is a big little business, and I don’t know what we can do now. It has all come to a standstill. I don’t even know where we can go to do the observed licence tests, so that stops too.
“But it’s the ripple effect through the whole industry. I don’t think a lot of people realise how big it is up there. I’ve touched base with suppliers like Gordon Leven Motorsport Tyres, and Gordon said the last two months have been like a December; people aren’t buying tyres. It is going to affect not just businesses, but the sport immensely.”
He said he has worked with Wakefield Park and the local council on noise issues and has cars that run at 75dba, so he doesn’t believe that should be an issue. In the meantime, he just has to hope he can hang while a solution is sought.
“Everybody’s doing their bit to try and get the place up and running, but we just need support. Even though there’s a new council, we need MPs, and we need people from the government to stick their hand up and support the venue and show how good it is for everybody. If we don’t get that support, that could be it.”
For more of the latest motorsport news pick up the latest issue of Auto Action.
